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THE

DEATH OF ABEL.

BOOK I.

HENCEFORTH

repose in silence, thou soft pipe; no more I render thee vocal, no more I chant the simple manners of the rustic swain. Fain would I raise my voice to bolder strains, and in harmonious lays rehearse the adventures of our primeval parents, after their dreadful fall. Fain would I celebrate him, who, sacrific'd by a brother's fury, his dust first mingled with the earth. Come thou noble enthusiasm, that warmest and fillest the mind of the rapt poet, who during the silent hours of the night, contemplates in the gloom of the thick grove, or at the side of a clear stream, glimmering with the moon's pale lamp; when seized by a divine transport, imagination takes her flight, and with bold wing traversing the region of created substances, penetrates into the distant empire of possibilities, discovering with clear view the marvellous that captivates, and the beautiful that enchants. Loaded with treasures, she returns to arrange and construct her various materials. Taught by reason to chuse

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and reject, she, with a wise œconomy, admits only what forms harmonious relations. Delightful employment! laudable constancy! I honour the bard who, to excite sentiments of virtue in the yielding heart, watches the nocturnal song of the grasshopper, till the rising of the morning star. Posterity will crown the urn of a poet who consecrates his talents to virtue and to innocence; his name shall not be forgot; his reputation shall bloom with unfading verdure, while the trophies of the proud conqueror shall moulder in the dust, and the superb mausoleum of the tyrant shall stand unknown in the midst of a desert, where human feet have made no path. Few, 'tis true, who have ventur'd on these noble subjects, have received from nature the gift of singing well; but the attempt is laudable: to it I consecrate all my moments of leisure, and all my solitary walks.

The tranquil hours had just given AURORA the tint of the rose, and dispell'd the vapours of night that had hover'd over the shadowy earth, while the sun, beginning to dart his first rays behind the black cedars of the mountains, ting'd with radiant purple the half enlightened clouds; when ABEL and his beloved THIRZA left their leafy couch, and repaired to a neighbouring bower, composed of interwoven jessamine and roses. The tenderest love and the purest virtue shone with the mildest beams in the fine blue eyes of THIRZA, and gave attractive graces to the carnation of her cheeks: with her fair locks, waving in ringlets on her snowy

neck, and hanging with a becoming negligence down her back, added to the beauty of her fine and delicate form. Thus she walked by the side of ABEL, whose high forehead was shaded with ringlets of the palest brown, reaching no lower than his shoulders. An air of thought and reflection was agreeably mix'd with the sweet serenity of his looks, and he mov'd with the easy grace of an angel, who, charg'd with the gracious behest of the MOST HIGH, becomes visible to the enraptur'd saint in an human form; but the veil he assumes is of such ravishing beauty, that thro' it shines the angel. THIRZA, with a look of affection, and a tender smile, cried, O my love, now the birds awake, and begin to chant their morning song, let me hear the hymn you yesterday sung in these smiling pastures; let me also join in the rapturous employment of praising the LORD. The melody of thy lips inspires my heart with an holy transport, and nothing can charm me more than to hear thee utter, in proper terms, the sensations I feel, but am unable to express. ABEL, tenderly embracing her, replied, My lovely THIRZA, instantly I will grant thy request. I no sooner read thy wishes in thine eyes, than, with a lover's haste, I strive to fulfil them. They then seated themselves in the fragrant bower, whose entrance was gilded by the morning sun, and ABEL thus began:

Retire, O sleep, from every eye! Fly, ye hovering dreams! Reason again resumes her throne; again she illumines the mind, as the morning sun en

lightens the fertile earth. We hail thee, resplendent sun, who dartest thy beams from behind the cedars; thy friendly rays give light and colour to re-animated nature, and every beauty smiles with new-born graces.

Retire, O sleep, from every eye! Fly, ye hovering dreams to the shades of night! Where are the shades of night? They have fled to the caves of the 1ocks; they wait us in the thick grove; we shall find them there, and be refresh'd by their coolness during the sultry heat of noon. See where the new-born day first wakes the eagle; where on the glittering summits of the rocks, and the shining sides of the mountains, the exhalations ascend and mix with the pure air of the morning, as the smoke of burnt-offerings arise from the altar. Thus nature celebrates the returning light, and pays to NATURE'S GOD the sacrifice of grateful praise. Praise him all things that exist! praise him whose wisdom and goodness produc'd and preserves all. Ye springing flowers exhale the sweets he gave you in his praise. Ye wing'd inhabitants of the grove, pour forth the warbling of your little throats to him who gave you voice and melody; while the majestic lion pays him honour with the terrors of his mouth, and the caverns of the rocks resound his praise. Praise GOD, O my soul! praise GOD the creator and preserver! Let the voice of man reach thy throne, O LORD, before that of thy other creatures: in the grey twilight, at the dawn of morning, while the birds and beasts yet sleep, may

my solitary song find acceptance, and invite the reviving creation to praise thee, the creator and preserver. How magnificent are thy works, O GOD! wisdom and goodness are stamp'd on all. Wherever I turn mine eyes, I perceive the traces of thy bounty; each sense is transported, and conveys their infinite beauties to my ravish'd mind. O GOD, weak and frail as I am, fain would I attempt thy praise. What induc'd thee, MAKER OMNIPOTENT, forever happy in thyself, to call from nothing this gay creation? What induc'd thee, thou self-existent, to form man out of the dust, and to give him the breath of life? It was thine infinite goodness. Thou gavest him being, that thou mightest confer on him happiness. O smiling morn! in thee I see a lively image of the work of the great CREATOR; when the sun disperses the vapours of the earth, and drives night before his steps, all nature revives with renewed lustre. The ALMIGHTY spoke; darkness fled, and silence heard his voice: He commanded, and myriads of living creatures emerg'd from the teeming earth, flutter'd in the air with variegated plumage, and render'd the astonish'd woods vocal with the praises of the beneficent CREATOR. Earth again hears the voice of her ALMIGHTY MAKER; the heaving clods rise in innumerable shapes, and burst into life and motion. The new form'd horse bounds o'er the verdant turf, and neighing shakes his mane: while the strong lion, impatient to free himself from the cumbrous earth, attempts his first roaring.

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